Follo web machine



M. TURCHAN Nov. 10, 1942.

FOLLOWER MACH INE Original Filed July'20, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 MENTOR.97212121121 [arc/21112 BY I 2. M w 7 ATTORN 5 Nov. 10, 1942. M. TURCHANFOLLOWER MACHINE Original Filed Jul 20, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IELYENTOR. furcfian QZZarzzzel BY MAA74 7 ATTORNEYfi.

Nov. 10, 1942.

a Sheets-Sheet 3'- Evan Pl/MP.

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Reissued Nov. 10, 1942 UNITED STATE FOLLOWER MACHINE Manuel Turchan,Dearborn, Mich.

Original No. 2,130,109, dated September 13, 1938,

Serial No. 736,207, July 20, 1934.

Application 1 for reissue August 5, 1940, Serial No. 351,541

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to socalled follower or profilingmachines; that is, machines for reproducing, usually in metal, thecontour of a previously prepared model of any suitable material. Inknown machines of the sort indicated profiling has been more or lesssuccessfully accomplished but except in certain very expensive andcomplicated types of machines, accuracy of dimensions has beensacrificed to obtain cheap-- ness and simplification.

Among the objects of the present invention therefore is a simple andrelatively inexpensive machine capable of reproducing in accuratedimensions the form of the model or pattern.

Another object is a machine of the character indicated which is capableof reproductions of the model (for example, dies) requiring a minimum offinishing work in order to be in'satisfactory form for further use.

Another object is a machine of the character indicated which, thoughsubstantially automatic, shall be instantaneously subject to the controlof the operator.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in theart upon reference to the following description and the accompanyingdrawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation with parts in section of amachine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts in section.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the controlling valve on line 3-3of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the valve and support with parts in section andparts omitted for clarity.

Fig. 5 is a detail in section.

As indicated above, the invention involves a machine for reproducing inmetal the contours of a prepared model, and the drawings are intended toillustrate a machine set up for the reproduction, as a die, of a moldedpattern of a tender of an automobile, the patternfbeing prepared fromplastic material and shaped by hand or in any suitable fashion.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the pattern is indicated at A and the work atB, both secured rigidly to the bed It and an extension ll, of thecutting machine, preferably a conventional vertical milling cuttersuitably modified. The milling cutter comprises as is usual, a baseportion l2 carrying a vertical member l3 within which is housed theworking parts operably connected to the'driving pulley H. At the upperend of member I3 is a horizontal portion overhanging bed I0 andsupporting the vertical shaft 16 carrying a milling cutter H. Themembers l3 and I5 house, as is usual, driving means for the cutter I1and also are provided with means for vertical adjustment of the latter.

The bed I0 is supported in the usual manner upon a so-called knee 20 andmeans is provided for moving the bed, in suitable slides, in twodirections, i. e., right and left and from front to back and reverse,these moving means being provided with feed screws in the conventionalmanner.

The knee 2!] is also vertically movable in its slide 2|, by means of ajack screw 22 operable by a hand wheel 23.

The description so far is of the conventional, well-known verticalmilling machine. In preparing the machine for reception of themechanisms by means of .which it is used as above indicated, the onlychange made is to substitute for the nut, usually cooperating with jackscrew 22 an internally threaded sleeve 25 slidable Vertically inpedestal 26 and having a keyway 2l cooperating with a key 28 to preventrotation. The sleeve 25 is also flanged at its upper end 29 tolimit itsdownward movement.

7 The mechanisms for converting the mill ma chine consist of fluidoperated cylinders for actuating the bed supporting knee 20 vertically,fiuid supply means for furnishing fluid under pressure to the cylinders,and control means C for regulating the fluid supply to the cylinders.

The cylinders for actuating the knee are shown in the drawings at 40,being fixed upon the base l2, and are provided with pistons 4| havingthe piston rods 42 extending through the upper heads 43 through suitableglands 44. These rods 42 are shouldered near their upper ends andcooperate with bracket members 45 fixed to the knee 20, to lift the kneewhen fiuid is forced into the cylinders below pistons 4 l,

It is preferred to extend the rods 42 some 'distance above the shouldersto permit, if desired, the addition of sleeves under the brackets tochange the relation of the pistons and brackets, and to fix the rods inthe brackets by nuts 45 on the upper end of the rods, for a purposei tobe explained later.

Leading into the lower ends of cylinders. is a fluid supply pipe andleading into thecylinders above pistons ll is a second fluid supply pipe5|. valve 52, normally maintained closed by a spring 53 but operable toopen position by a lever or foot pedal 54. The pipes 50 and 5i aresupplied with fluid under pressure from a suitable pump 55 Connectingthese two pipes is a bypass drawing the fluid from a tank 56 anddelivering topipe 50 through-the control means C, to be described later,and to pipe 5| through a pressure reducing valve 60.

Further,'pipe is provided with a pressure controlled outlet, valve 0|located between valve 00 and cylinders 50 and inside or, on at leastdischarging into, tank 58. The pump 85 is preferably operateg by asuitable motor 02 and provided with a suitable pressure limiting. orsafety valve 53. The discharge from pump 50 isthrough a pipe 64 to a T85, one branchof which leads to valve 60 and thence to-pipe 5|, theother branch connecting to a pipe 06 leading to the control device C andthence to pipe 00. i v,

The control device C above referred to is carried at the end of asupporting arm I0 of suitable length, depending upon the size of work,mounted upon uprightmember I3 and extending laterally. The outer end ofarm 10 is provided with a vertically arranged split sleeve II fittingwithin part I3 andhaving an inside diameter only slightly larger thanthe outer diameter of the screw II which extends up through it andintothe interiorly threaded hand wheel 15, the hub of which rests upon thesleeve. As shown best in Fig. 4, sleeve 13 is flanged at its upper endand on one side as at 10 the flange is sufliciently wide and long toallow the formation therein of an arcuate slot II which, in cooperationwith a screw I8 fixed in arm I0, provides i'or angular adjustment of thesleeve. Further, the sleeve is provided internally with a slot 00 andthe screw It with a key way II by means of which, with a suitable keythe screw may be prevented from turning in the sleeve. The lower end ofscrew 14 is providedwith an enlargement forming a horizontally arrangedsplit sleeve 05 tightened or loosened by a screw 00, and held in this isthe side arm 01 of the control device C. about to be described.

Referring now to Fig. 3 there isshown in section the control device,carrying a'pilot or 01- lower ior following the outline of the model orpattern to control the movement or the work under the cutter. Thisdevice C comprises a preferably cylindrical shell 90 fitting closely ina ring 9| forming a part of the arm 01. This shell has formed in itsinner periphery three channels or canals 92, 90, and 94 having ports92a, 93a, and Ma, which, when the shell 90 and ring 9i are properlyrelatively located, communicate with three conduits 92b, 00b and 04bextending through arm 81 and connected respectively, through suitableflexible sections to pipe 66, 50, and 05.

tion with a drain pipe III. Further, in order to provid for collectingany leakage, between shell 90 and ring 9|, the cap is also provided witha small gutter Ill draining through a small opening Illi to the inside.The cap IIO may be fixed in adjusted position by means of a lock nutIli. f The follower 0r pilot is shown at I20 and this is carried at thelower end of the valve operating member I2I being fixed thereto in anysuitable manner as by threading it intotlie lower end as at I22 using alock nut I23 if desired.

This member I2I comprises a shaft portion extending up through openingII2 to a point closely adjacent the cone I04 01 valve member I00. At itsupper end this shalt portion is fiared conically, as at I20, the anglebeing the same as that of the cone I04. At an intermediate point on theshaft is formed a conical flange I 26 having the same angle as cone III.It is preferred to make these several cones and flanges with the sameangle though a small diirerence between the angle of cone I04 and coneIII will not be a serious objection. Further, while an angle or 45'' hasbeen found satisfactory, a somewhat smaller or larger angle may be used.

It will be noted that the upper and lower cones are arranged opposite toeach other and in order to lessen friction antifriction bearings I21 andI20 are used between the mated conical elements. These bearingscomprise'balls spaced by cages I20 and I00, respectively, which limitsthe movement of the balls in only one radial direction,

' being slotted as at III and I32, respectively, to

permit the upper ones to move radially outward and the lower ones tomove radially inward.

In assembling the control C, the cap H0 is adjusted so that, when pilotI20 is not in contact with anything, valve member I00 is at a positionin which the rib I03 will permit communication between grooves 90 and02, the size of the 1 opening determining the rapidity of action of thetween the centers of the pilot I20 and the cut- Fitting within the shellon and slidable longi- Y tudinally therein is a valve member I00 havingin its outer periphery two grooves MI and I02 separated by a rib I03 ofsubstantially the width oi. canal 03. This valve member I00 is open atits bottom but at its upper end is closed and the closure portionprovided inside with a small conical. projection I04 coaxial with themember.

' The upper end of shell 00 is closed by a suitable screw cap I00 havinga central threaded opening in which is a screw plug I00, preferablyhollow, which cooperates with a spring I01 arranged between it and valvemember I00 to provide adjusted spring pressure upon the latter.

, The lower end of shell 00 is screw threaded ,to receive a screw capIII having its end dished inwardly to iorm an inwardly projecting coneIII I and having a concentric opening H2. The cap is also tapped as atH! to provide for connecter [1. These two elements should be generallythe same shape and their size should be the same with the qualificationbelow noted. It is not intended by this statement to mean that the pilotshould have cutting teeth. It is preferably smooth with its surfaces ofareas corresponding to the planes generated by the outermost portions ofthe cutter when the latter is rotated. As for "the size of the pilot tobe used, this is determined by whether the reproduction is to be of thesame dimensions as those of the pattern or model. I! the pilot is oftheexact size of the cutter, the reproduction will be as much smaller thanthe model as the amount of pilot movement necessary to actuate thevalve. Thi amount will depend upon the valve adjustment and upon theangle of the cones and is of the order of five to fifteen thousandths ofan inch. If the pilot is larger by more than this compensating amount,the reproduction will be as much larger than the model. If it issmaller, the work will be smaller.

In setting up the pattern and blank, if the size pressure liquid wouldbe delivered back to the sump or reservoir 56. It will also be notedthat of these requires changing the distance between centers of pilotand cutter, the pilot may be moved toward or away from the cutter by themeans shown in Figures 2 and 4. By loosening screws I and 06 the arm 01may be swung about the center of screw 14 and moved lengthwise so as toadjust the position of control 0 along the center line of bed I0 anumber of inches either way from the position shown in Figure 1 in whicharm 81 is at right angles to thesupporting arm The vertical adjustmentof control C is accomplished by screw 14 and wheel 15 and should be suchas to arrange the pilot and cutter at the same level or at such adifferent level as will correspond to their. difierence in dimension.The vertical adjustment of the bed I0 and the pieces A and Bis'accomplished initially by the use of the hand wheel 23 and should besuch that the cutter will just pass over the highest point of the blank.

With the pump 55 operating, pressure is developed in pipe 65 and, withthe control valve I00 adjusted as above described, fluid will flow intocylinders 40 to raise the bed I0. This will continue until the pilot I20contacts the pattern. When pressure is exerted on the pilot directlyvertical, the valve I00 is of course moved upwardly to shut offcommunication between passages 92 and 93 and open it between passages 03and 04. This immediately stops the flow into the cylinders 40 and allowsoutflow therefrom through pipe 95 to the tank 56. The same action occursif the pressure on pilot I20 is applied laterally in any direction, asthe clearance between the pilot shaft and, of course, any such actionwill result in an upward movement of the shaft because of the cones IIIand I26 and cones I04 and I25.

In those cases where the pilot engages a very steep upward slope, theremay be enough drag downward to center the lower cones.

The feed of the work to the cutter may be The lateral pressure, however,will cause the valve I00 to be lifted by the action of the upper cones,the stem liquid is delivered to the cylinder 40 on the upper side of thepiston H and that this low pressure side of the cylinder is constantlyin communication through the low pressure piping 5| with the pump. Thisdispenses with the need for bleeds and provides a cushion efiect whichwould not be present were low pressure liquid not delivered to the upperend of the cylinder.

In the construction of the valve mechanism shown in Fig. 3 thearrangement is such that a lateral thrust delivered to the tracerspindle is resisted through the engagement of the conical flange I26with the balls I20. This lateral thrust is, through these inclines I26and III translated into a motion which carries the tracer spindleaxially, the balls I28 rolling upwardly between the inclines, the flangeI20 riding upwardly on the balls and the balls I20 riding upwardly onthe incline III. This construction has proven quite sensitive to eitheran axial thrust or a lateral-thrust so that a ready and prompt responseofthe valve to these thrusts is present with a consequent ready responseof the cutting tool to the movements of the spindle.

Now having described the invention and the preferred embodiment thereof,it is to be understood that said invention is to be limited, not to thespecific details herein set forth, but only by the scope of the claimswhich follow.

What I claim is:

1. In a profiling machine having a pilot and fluid operated means formoving the work inresponse to movements of the pilot, fluid controlmeans including a valve device connected to the pilot, said valve devicecomprising a cylindrical shell, fluid conduits leading thereinto, avalve' member in said shell and movable longitudinally therein tocontrol fluid flow through said cone duits, an axially located stemextending from said valve member to the exterior of the shell andcarrying the pilot, said stem having a conical flange inwardly adjacentthe point where it automatic or by hand using the feed means cornmonlyprovided on milling cutters of the type indicated. Further, if at anytime the operator may be dispensed with, allowing gravity to cause thedownward movement.

It will be noted that in the construction set out the high pressure lineis positively controlled. The high pressure liquid passes through thepipe. 60 into the housing, through the inlet port 920.. This highpressure liquid pipe 66 is never brought into communication with thedrain port 041). On the high pressure line of the cylinder the liquidunder high pressure is positively controlled and must flrst pass throughthe housing 90, pass through the port 02a and then outwardly through theport 93a into the pipe 50. Consequently, high pressure that this highthere never is a bypassing oi the line through the housing 90, so

. said valve member to the exterior of the shell leaves the shell, amating conical flange on said shell around the opening through which thestem extends, said flanges directed inwardly of the shell and limitingthe' outward movement of the stem, and said shell flange being of suchwidth as to permit lateral movement of the stem, a socket at the innerend of said stem and a projection on said: valve co-operating with saidsocket.

2. In a profiling machine having a pilot and fluid operated means formoving the work in response to movements of the pilot, fluid controlmeans including a valve device connected to the pilot, said valve devicecomprising a cylindrical shell, fluid conduits leading thereinto,'a,valve member in said shell and movable longitudinally therein to controlfluid flow through said conduits, an axially located stern extendingfrom and carryin gthe pilot, said stem having a conical flange inwardlyadjacent the point where it leaves the shell, a mating conical flange onsaid shell around the opening through which the stem extends, saidflanges directed inwardly of'the shell and limiting the outward movementof the stem, and said shell flange being of such width as to permitlateral movement of the stem, a conical socket at the inner end of 'saidstem, a conical projection on said valve cooperating with said socket,and antifriction means between the opposed faces of the conicalelements.

scribed, a, valve housing: a valve in said housing slidable to variouspositions oi control; a resilient means for sliding said valve in onedirection; a tracer spndle engageable at one end with said valvemechanism andmovable longitudinalb' of said housing: and cooperatingconical means on said spindle and said housmg, bearing means interposedbetween said conical means for moving said spindle longitudinally in onedirection upon delivery oi a lateral thrust to said spindie. r I

4; In a tracer mechanism of the class described,'a valve housing; aslidable valve; a reajaflaa', 3. In a tracer mechanism of the class de-M scribed, a tracer spindle; a valve housing having a slidablevalvetherein: one end oi the spindle projecting inwardly-of saidhousing; a plurality of cooperating inclines associated with said.spindie and said housing, bearing means interposed between said inclinestor eif ecting longitudinal movement of the spindle upon delivery of alateral thrust thereto for moving said valve in one direction;'resilient means for moving said valve in the opposite direction, andadiustable means for adjusting the pressure oi said resilient means. 6.In a profiling machine, a stemfa shell into I I which one end of saidstem projects, the opening through which said stem extends beingsuinciently large to, permit lateral movement of the stem; a valvemember within said shell and oper- 1 'ably engaged by said stem; saidstem having a conical flange, a mating conical flange on said shelladjacent the opening through which the stem extends, bearing meansinterposed between said flanges, whereby said stem is adapted to movelongitudinally of said housing upon delivery of a lateral thrust theretoand thereby move I ,said valve, and fluid conduits controlled by saidvalve

